Cityzens Weekend

In July 2016, the Club opened the doors of the City Football Academy to thousands of fans for the inaugural Cityzens Weekend, a free two-day event bringing together supporters from Manchester and around the world to celebrate the launch of the new Club badge, introduce new manager, Pep Guardiola, and reveal the new kit for the upcoming season.

Cityzens Weekend coincided with the launch of the new website, mancity.com, on which fans were able to stream a live broadcast of the Cityzens Weekend events, including Pep’s official introduction to the fans.

The new badge was first revealed on the Thursday evening before Cityzens Weekend when it was projected on to Manchester Town Hall. The Etihad Campus underwent an incredible transformation for the event, as the new badge was installed across the site. More than 100 people contributed to the process as the Etihad Stadium, Market Street City Store, City Football Academy and the community bridge were updated with the new designs. The new badge was also installed in City’s global offices, in the UK and around the world.

This new badge marked a return to its historical round shape and features a series of iconic Manchester symbols – the ship, the three rivers and the red rose of Lancashire. For the first time the Club has included the year of its foundation, 1894, as a nod to its rich history within the Manchester community. Its final design followed a consultation in which supporters were given an opportunity to have their say on if, and if so how, they would like the badge to evolve.

Cityzens Weekend was later recognised at both the Sports Business and Stadium Business Awards – for best non-matchday use of venue, and sales and marketing respectively.